Air to Breathe
by WritersHonor
Summary: Dean was always going to protect his brother. He wouldn't lose him. Not like he lost his Mom. Not like he lost his Dad. Sam was his reason. Sam Winchester thought he needed Dean. He thought he needed Dean to watch his back, to hold him together, to take care of him. He thought he needed Dean. But the truth was...ONESHOT!


**This is a one shot. This is not slash. This is not Wincest. This is Sam and Dean. Dean and Sam. Being brotherly brothers that need each other.**

**~Writers Honor **

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Some people might have thought what Dean did was inexcusably horrible. Everyone knows that, under no circumstances ever, you never sell your soul for anything. Nothing is worth an eternity in hell.

But they don't understand. They don't get it. They don't get Dean Winchester.

Sam Winchester thought he needed Dean. He thought he needed Dean to watch his back, to hold him together, to take care of him. He thought he needed Dean to hold him together. But he saw how much it hurt Dean, growing up, to have to worry about his brother and put him first, ahead of himself. And then Sam grew up and was determined to not need anyone anymore. Especially Dean. He'd be just like his big brother. Dean didn't need anyone.

Sam had left with a backpack, some cash, and a bus ticket. All he left behind were his guns, his angry father, his silent brother, and a slammed door.

And he loved Stanford. He loved it because it was normal and easy. Everyone was nice to him. Everyone was normal. Everything was perfect.

But every night, he'd look at that cell phone he kept still packed up in the bag to make sure no one had called. And every night he'd pick it up, go through the contacts and slid all the way down to the "D" section. He'd stop at DAD just for half a heartbeat of a second before he slid it down one more name to DEAN. And then he'd stare at it for a few minutes. His finger would hover over the "CALL" button before he retracted it, flipped the phone shut, and stuffed it back in his bag.

Dean would steal his Dads phone periodically, just to make sure Sam hadn't called. But he never did. He figured that if Sammy called, it would be his father that he called. But just to be sure he'd keep an eye on both phones. But Dean knew that Sam wanted out—out of everything, so he left him alone. Because if he wanted to protect his brother, maybe this was the best way.

But after the first year, Sam stared at the phone one night a little longer than usual. He'd gotten the best grades of anyone there that he knew that year. He was drunk, he was happy, and had spent half the night out celebrating. And now he stared at the one person he wanted to tell more than anything. He clicked the call button on DEAN and for one second he thought he just might bring it up to his ear. But before the call even went through, Sam was clicking the "CANCEL" button. His eyes watered and he grabbed the phone and ripped the backing off it. He yanked the battery out and finally just threw the thing in the trash.

But Dean never did stop checking his and Dad's phones.

So when Dad went missing, it was almost too easy to give Sam's phone a call. But his heart nearly stopped when he heard the damn thing was no longer in service.

He drove for a two days and one night straight to get to where his brother was, only to find him safe. And then he was Dean again. He hadn't been that Dean for such a long time, he himself had forgotten who it was.

When Sam died, it had been too much. He couldn't breathe. All he saw was a blank slate of nothing that was the road ahead. So Dean Winchester made a new damn road. One that sent him on a highway to hell. But brought Sammy back to life.

Dean was the older brother. When he was four years old, he lost his mother. And he'd never admit it, but that day, he also lost some of his Dad too. He promised himself that he'd always have Sam, though. No matter what, he'd protect his little brother.

Sam thought he needed Dean when he was little. He'd look to his big brother for all sorts of things. And no matter what Dean said about the kid begin a hassle, or annoying, everything that little Sammy needed or wanted, Dean took care of. No matter what, he'd take care of his little brother.

Sam Winchester thought he needed Dean. He thought he needed Dean to watch his back, to hold him together, to take care of him. He thought he needed Dean.

Truth was, though, that Dean Winchester needed Sammy. He needed him to be in that bed on the other side of the motel room when he woke up in the middle of the night. He needed him to stitch him up at the end of the hunt because he always did make a mess of it. He needed him to be naïve and smart and kind, especially when Dean was being an ass. He needed Sam because it gave him a reason to be alive. It gave him a reason to keep on fighting. Dean needed Sam, needed him like he needed air to breathe.

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